Dear Father William Beauchamp,
You do not know me but I am a University of Portland
student. My name is Andrea Merrill and I am a junior Sociology major, with a
social justice minor. I grew up in Bellingham, WA with a loving mom, dad, and
younger sister. During my childhood, I had a dog named Penny and two cats named
Ms. Frizzle and Dusty Bones. I’m sad to say that currently, only Dusty Bones is
alive today. I played soccer all the way through freshman year of high school
and graduated high school in the top 10% of my class. I also have a mild
obsession with coffee and like many others, I probably spend too much time
watching Netflix. My sexual orientation is pansexual but as a whole, I identify
as queer.
Now, why did I begin this letter with all of that personal
information? The reason is that I wanted to show that I am not simply my sexual
orientation or my gender identity. I am a student, an activist, an animal
lover, a nerd, a coffee enthusiast, and queer. While I do wear many hats with
all of the activities I am involved in, I refuse to be defined by one aspect of
my personality.
I realize that the University of Portland is a catholic institution
and I honestly respect someone’s beliefs. Through the several theology classes
that I’ve taken at UP and my work with a new coalition called Campus Pride in
Faith, I have come to discover a deep respect for religion that I did not have
before.
I also realize that I chose to go to UP three years ago and
that I still choose to go today. My enrollment at the university is voluntary
and after switching majors last spring (nursing to sociology), I had to spend a
little bit of time convincing my parents to let me stay at UP instead of
transferring to a less expensive school. The reason why is because I really do
love the UP community and I really love Portland. I love how successful the
soccer team is and how beautiful the campus can be during a sunny day. I love
the opportunities I have had since coming to this school and I cannot wait to
go on many more adventures during the next year and a half.
With that, I want to speak on the words you said at the
Fireside Chat on Monday, February 18th and the atmosphere that
currently exists on campus. As someone who does not identity as heterosexual and is
very involved in the LGBTQ community, I have come to feel less and less safe on
campus. I’m afraid that I might say the wrong thing in class or that I might
act in a way that might warrant suspicion in my fellow students and in faculty
and staff members. So far in the past three weeks, I have honestly come home
and sobbed because I have felt invalidated as a human being because of what
another student or faculty member said in class or otherwise. I no longer feel
comfortable being open with my identity on campus because I am tired of
defending myself.
And that’s it exactly. I am so tired of explaining who I am
and trying to validate just another part of my identity every single day on
campus.
You, the administration, students, faculty and staff
members, and the Catholic community have the right to believe that acting sexually
on a homosexual identity is wrong but you and others do NOT have the right to make me feel
invalidated as a human being. The University of Portland campus needs to start
having REAL discussions about this issue. We need to start understanding each
other and hearing others’ stories in a safe and honest way. People, including you, need to start
understanding the struggles that others go through.
I’m tired of trying to defend myself and I’m tired of
hearing my friends’ stories of the same issues.
Real change needs to happen at the University of Portland and it is not
going to start unless we begin to talk.
My regards,
Andrea Merrill
